GLOBAL MEDIA IN AIRLIFT TO ISRAEL
(Communicated by the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry
Spokesman)

In the wake of Operation Pillar of Defense and the global media interest in
events in the south, hundreds of journalists and television crews have
arrived to cover events in Israel and the Gaza Strip. According to
Government Press Office (GPO) data, as of yesterday (Sunday, 18 November
2012), approximately 500 foreign journalists have arrived at the GPO in
order to receive the press credentials that allow them free access to the
conflict zones. They join the approximately 1,400 journalists and crew
members who are already in the region to cover Israel and the Middle East.
Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein has directed
GPO Director Nitzan Chen to do what is necessary to receive the journalists
quickly and efficiently, to hold press tours to the communities in the south
that are under missile threat, and to provide them with information and
data.

To these ends, the GPO has significantly extended its reception hours,
received additional personnel and resources and held foreign press tours to
the south, including to Barzilai Medical Center, in which journalists have
been accompanied and briefed by Minister Edelstein.

GPO Director Nitzan Chen said, "The GPO has been working around the clock.
After having seen a reduction in the foreign media presence in recent years
due to the relative quiet and events of the Arab Spring, in recent days we
have seen a genuine airlift. Of the approximately 500 journalists who have
landed in Israel, approximately one-third have come to reinforce crews that
have been reduced, one-third represent North American media outlets and
one-third are from Europe."

Minister Edelstein said, "The manner of coverage and pictures that are sent
to millions of viewers and readers around the world by foreign journalists
also have great influence over what occurs on the battlefield. I have
instructed the GPO to make a maximum effort to receive journalists
efficiently and organize press tours to the areas in the south that are
being shelled. We are working so that alongside the photos of planes and
tanks, there are the voices of the people who have been enduring a daily
reality over the years that no other country would be prepared to accept."

For further details, please contact Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs
Ministry Spokesman Gal Ilan at gali@pmo.gov.il or 050-6207774.